Two by Two
by LFVoy
Summary: An alternate ending to Season 5, picking up after "Still" and going into AU territory. Just as Castle and Beckett reach a turning point in their relationship, a new serial killer appears on the scene. Or is he that new? His patterns are terribly familiar. 2014 Summer Castle Ficathon entry; awesome cover art by @dtrekker.
1. Chapter 1

_Castle_ is the copyrighted property of ABC Studios. This fiction item is intended for entertainment purposes only. No compensation has been received or will be accepted for it, and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended or should be implied.

* * *

_Author's Note: this story picks up immediately after 5x21 "Still," assuming the original airing order._

* * *

**Two by Two**  
_Chapter One_

* * *

The leg cramps started almost as soon as they got into her car. The first one was just a warning twinge, so Kate said nothing. But by the time they'd gone four or five blocks, the annoying twitches had evolved into hot needles that slid up and down, from her waist to her toes and back again. She gritted her teeth, unwilling to give in.

Castle, sitting next to her, was obviously still a bit wound up. "So if Gates knows about us and approves – well, okay, doesn't disapprove – does that mean we can sneak off into the bathroom for a quickie every now and then?"

"Plausible deniability, remember?" Her right foot was trying to curl up into a little ball.

"So we'd just have to be careful. Maybe we could use a supply closet." His expression changed as he warmed to the topic. "Ooh. I know! Observation! It locks, it's dark and it's on the wrong side of all the one-way mirrors. And then every time we go in there and remember –"

"Castle, haven't you seen what they clean the precinct with?" Sometimes, if the overnight crews had had an unusually heavy hand, the smell of the industrial-strength disinfectant was enough to bring tears to her eyes first thing in the morning. "Think about why they have to use that."

"Well, yes, but…" he trailed off, eyes narrowing. "Are you all right?"

She realized she was gripping the steering wheel so hard her knuckles had gone white. "I'm fine. Just ready to get home."

His gaze slid down her body. At another time, that would have brought a flush of warmth, but now she was just trying to keep from crying out. She could make it another thirty blocks.

"Leg cramps?" he asked softly.

It would serve no purpose to deny it. "I'll be okay."

"Need me to drive?"

"This car is government property." She eased it to a stop at a red light, gritting her teeth in response to the sudden temptation to just throw the gumball and scream through the rest of the route back to his loft.

"But Gates probably already knows we've christened the back seat."

Despite the pain, she managed to smile at the memory. It had only taken him two weeks to talk her into it after the department had issued the new unit. Of course, it had happened just as they'd been getting started, but – Kate's thoughts broke off as a fresh wave of pain arrowed down her legs. Suppressing a gasp, she moved her foot from the brake back to the accelerator in response to the green light.

"Kate?"

She took a deep breath, pressing her foot down with sheer willpower.

"Kate, why don't you pull into an alley or something. I'll drive the rest of the way."

"I'm fine, Castle." It sounded absurd even to her own ears. "It's just a bit of cramping."

"Just a bit?" he echoed. "After standing in one place for more than six hours? You do know you have tears in your eyes, don't you?"

She'd convinced herself it was because she'd been remembering the way the precinct sometimes smelled in the morning. "I'm all right."

"No, you're not."

The shift in his tone had her glancing over at his face. The pleasantly neutral expression he'd used during most of their time trapped in Archibald Fosse's apartment had returned, but his eyes were bright and hard and there were visible lines of strain at the corners. It was a decent poker face, and might have fooled her five years ago, but she'd learned his tells since then.

Spending hours trapped on top of a bomb had gotten to him, too.

"Kate, for the love of little apples, would you pull over? Nobody's going to care if you let me drive just this once. Nobody's probably even going to notice. You're already off duty."

Despite her pain, she managed a shaky laugh. "The love of little apples, Castle? Are you trying to distract me with your safe word?"

"My apples aren't little. There's an opening over there. Turn in." It wasn't a request now, but she tried to ignore it. Her legs had other ideas, though, and when the hot needles turned into knives she couldn't stop a soft whimper. Her right foot jerked up, causing them to slow abruptly and earning an irritated honk from the car behind them.

"Damn it, Kate. Quit trying to be such a hero."

They still had another twenty-eight blocks to go. It was a blow to her pride to admit she wasn't going to make it, but this wasn't safe. It took both feet to stop the car after she'd steered it over to the patch of curb he'd pointed out, and in the end he was the one who reached over and slid the lever into park. "Can you crawl over if I walk around?"

"I'll do what I have to do."

Accepting that, he got out of the car and let her make her way over to the passenger seat on her own. She'd thought she still had some dignity left, but she was openly gasping by the time he'd finished adjusting the driver's seat for his height. "No hospital, Castle. They're just muscle cramps." Even if they were some of the worst she'd ever experienced.

"I wasn't even thinking about it." He eased the car back into traffic. "But you're staying at my place tonight. We'll have some wine to relax and I'll run you the hottest bath you can stand."

It sounded heavenly, and gave her an image to focus on as he wound his way through the cars back to his loft. He stopped at the building's front door, the offer plain in his eyes, but she shook her head. Bad enough she'd let him drive, but that would be too much.

The walk from the parking garage to the elevator seemed to take forever. Castle slid his arm around her waist in what, under other circumstances, might have been an affectionate gesture. But this time, she needed it as support. She let herself sag against him in the elevator, and against the wall while he unlocked the door.

"Kate! Oh my goodness!" Martha met them as soon as they walked in. "I've been watching the news. They said you just barely made it off in time and –" she broke off, narrowing her eyes in an expression much like her son's. When she resumed speaking, it was with a far more controlled pitch. "You'd had to stand in place for hours without moving a muscle, no matter what. You poor dear. You must be in absolute agony."

Although she'd been through more painful experiences, these cramps were rapidly moving their way up the list. She nodded, but wasn't able to speak.

Now that they were out of public view, Castle slid his free arm under her knees and picked her up. With a sigh of relief, she linked her arms behind his neck.

"What can I do for you, darling?"

"Hot bath," he answered for her, moving toward the study and the bedroom beyond.

Martha nodded. "Use the Epsom salts. I'll pour the wine."

In the bathroom, he set her on her feet long enough to open the taps and begin to undress her. "Just a little longer, baby."

"Baby?" She'd heard him call Alexis that once or twice, but never her.

He chuckled as he pulled her shirt off, pausing in his task long enough to brush his fingertips against her cheekbone. "Sorry. Amazing woman."

His hands were gentle as he removed her clothes. This was hardly the first time he'd done that, of course, but the casual intimacy of him doing it for a reason other than sex warmed her. They were more than just lovers.

Something of her thoughts must have shown on her face, because he paused again to run his hands through her hair after taking it out of the ponytail. He dropped a kiss on the crown of her head after helping her into the tub. "I'll be right back."

"Don't be long." She exhaled as she leaned back, straightening her legs as much as possible even as she felt the heat start seeping into her skin. By the time he'd returned with two glasses of red, she'd managed to extend them to their full length.

"Isn't that a picture worth remembering," he observed.

"As long as it's one you remember in your head and not on your iPhone."

That earned a smile. He knelt on the floor to hand her a glass. "Here."

"Thank you." She took a long sip before realizing he had stayed exactly where he was. "Well. Are you coming in, or what?"

He didn't need to be asked twice. Straightening up, he shucked his own clothes before stepping in behind her. His hands, as they guided her back against his chest, were as gentle as they'd been while undressing her, and when she relaxed he brushed his lips against her temple.

"I love you," he whispered. "So very, very much."

"I know, Rick," she answered. "And I love you." It was easier to say it the second time. She wondered if it would keep getting easier.

"Let go, Kate. It's over, we're alive, and I'm right here."

Closing her eyes, closing out the events of the day, she did just that.

* * *

Kate woke up in the bed several hours later, stretching experimentally. There was still some stiffness, but the movement didn't leave her gasping in pain. A little bit of gentle exercise would probably bring her all the way back to normal.

She was alone, although the water and aspirin on the nightstand stood as evidence of Castle's presence. He'd stayed with her until the bath had gone cool, and then helped her to the bed and cradled her while she fell asleep. At the time, she'd figured he would go to sleep too, but apparently that hadn't lasted.

Blinking, she pushed the covers back, found one of his shirts, and pulled it around her before making her way toward the study. She left the lamps turned off; there was enough light spilling in from outside to see her way.

His voice floated in from beyond the darkness. "I don't know what I would've done."

"You would have survived. Not easily, not without scars, but –"

"I'm not sure I would have wanted to."

"You would have had to! For Alexis." She'd never heard Martha speak that sharply before. "Were you even _thinking_ of her when you went back into that building?"

"Don't try to guilt me, Mother. Alexis is an adult."

"She's the same age Kate was when she lost her mother."

There was a long moment of silence after that. Kate concentrated on breathing through her nose, silently, so as not to give her presence away. She wasn't a part of this conversation.

When he spoke again, Castle's voice had that raw edge that only appeared when he was incredibly angry or incredibly hurt. "That was a low blow. And we survived, so it's also a moot point."

"Is it? If my point isn't that you were incredibly stupid but that you're still too busy living in the moment to give a serious thought to the larger picture? Good Lord." She could hear footsteps, suggesting that Martha was pacing around. "Even Kate knew better than that. Why do you think she asked you to leave before it was too late?"

She bit her lip. Of course that had been a reason, but it hadn't been the primary one. She just hadn't been able to bear the thought that Castle could have –

"I've been thinking of buying a ring."

Kate's hands flew to her mouth.

"What does that have to do with this?"

"It has to do with the fact that Alexis is an adult, and you're an adult, and it's hardly selfish of me to make a choice that considers my…" he trailed off. "My _partner_ to be as important as either of you. It also doesn't diminish the way I feel you or Alexis, and if that's the message you say you're getting, then that says as much about you as it does me. Where did I go a few weeks ago?"

"That's different –"

"Is it? I left Kate behind when Alexis needed me in Paris." There was a different set of footsteps now, heavier ones. "How the hell can you accuse me of mixed-up priorities in the light of that? If someone in my family needs me, that's where I go. And Kate is family."

"What good would it have done her if you'd both gotten blown up?"

She slid a foot forward, realizing that the argument was about to start going around in circles. For all she knew, it already was.

"If you have to ask that, mother, then maybe you and I are using different definitions of 'family.'"

The argument was also on the verge of getting ugly. Her steps gained more confidence.

"And you accused me of a low blow, Richard. Does she know you're thinking about proposing? The last time I checked, you hadn't even invited her to move in."

"That's between the two of us." His voice was low again, but this time it was shaking with anger. "It has nothing to do with you."

"So you define her as family, but you don't know if she does the same, and you keep us all siloed from each other because you're afraid we might compare notes."

Kate stepped through the doorway between the bedroom and the study, opening her mouth –

And then found herself shutting it again as Martha shot her a glare behind Castle's back. The message was clear: _stay out of this_.

Kate was tempted to ignore it, but in a flash of insight she realized her presence would make things worse. She glided back into the bedroom, pulling the shirt off and dropping it back on the chair where she'd found it. Behind her, the argument escalated, both of them raising their voices as they began repeating themselves.

She sat back down on the bed, pulling the covers across herself before calling out. "Castle?"

The argument stopped, and a moment later he appeared in the bedroom door. "Hey. How long have you been awake?"

"Just a minute or two." She could hear the click of Martha's heels fade as the other woman exited the study. "How long was I out?"

"Few hours." She followed his gaze to the clock beside the bed. Its display read 12:38. "You probably need a bit more sleep."

"It's after midnight," she answered. "Why are you up?"

"Working on that chapter."

"How's it going?"

"The draft's done." He sat down next to her, one hand brushing hair back off her face. "I need to let it rest for a while, go back to it in the morning with fresh eyes. Gates sent you a text telling you to take 24 hours before going back into the precinct."

It was an effort to smile. "Then we have a day to ourselves."

"I guess we do." Kicking his slippers off, he pushed behind her to his side of the bed. Kate's thoughts stuttered to a stop for a second. Since when had she started thinking of this particular side of his bed as belonging to her?

Apparently unaware of her disquiet, he leaned over to drop a kiss on her shoulder. "You know, you're not wearing anything."

"Probably because you undressed me in the bathroom."

The hand that had been tracing down her spine stopped. "I did, at that. So how are you feeling? Still sore?"

"A little. Not like it was." She let him pull her back down until she was cradled against his shoulder. "Thank you. This was exactly what I needed."

"Then get some sleep. It's been a long day, and we have an entire new one to ourselves tomorrow. No point in wasting it."

That was true enough, but Kate was quiet as she settled against him, remembering the argument. Did Martha resent her presence in Castle's life?

No, she decided after a moment, recalling the genuine concern after they'd come through the door. A lot of what she'd overheard had been leftover frayed nerves. Alexis had lashed out in a similar manner last year during the bank standoff – that time, directly to her face – but she had apologized afterward. _I was scared and upset, and you were handy. That didn't mean it was okay to dump on you._

If anything, Kate mused, there was a kind of backhanded compliment in the fact that his family felt comfortable enough around her to allow their non-public feelings to show. It was a sign that they, like him, had started to consider her a part of their family.

She took a slow, deep breath, not wanting to give away her thoughts until she'd had a chance to work through them on her own. Family. It'd been so long since she'd been a part of one, yet based on Castle's statements tonight, he was seriously considering asking her to formally join his.

Were he and his daughter and his mother really ready for that? For that matter, was she?

Kate closed her eyes, but it was a while before she went back to sleep.

* * *

_Because a few people have asked (and bless you for doing so): no, I have not abandoned "Collateral Effects." But it needs some more time in development. In the meantime, I'm tackling a different part of the same AU: the place where it starts to diverge from canon._

_I know where I'm going with this, but I'm a notoriously slow writer. After the disaster that was this spring, though, I need something to kick-start myself again. So I'm declaring for the 50,000 word goal with a sub-goal of updating every Tuesday. I think I can make it!_


	2. Chapter 2

_Castle_ is the copyrighted property of ABC Studios. This fiction item is intended for entertainment purposes only. No compensation has been received or will be accepted for it, and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended or should be implied.

* * *

**Two by Two**  
_Chapter Two_

* * *

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped out together for the first time in over a year.

They'd occasionally gotten to the precinct at the same time before, just by coincidence, but since the personal relationship had shifted they'd started being more cautious. The rules had changed now, though: discretion was still important, but there was no longer a need to hide.

That was a relief, since the subterfuge had stopped being fun long before. Not having to continue it was almost enough to make Castle think that Captain Gates was finally warming up to him.

Almost. He didn't fail to notice the annoyed look she gave him as they settled in at Kate's desk.

Kate did, mostly because she was too busy making an annoyed face of her own. "Damn it. I knew this would happen."

Someone had changed her computer's background from the NYPD logo to an image of the _Naked Heat_ cover against a background of brightly colored candy hearts. "Well, you have to appreciate their artistry. And taste in literature."

"I have to appreciate their stupidity. Ryan! Whose ass is about to get kicked for touching my computer when I'm not here?"

He managed a credible job of looking innocent. "What are you talking about?"

"Don't give me that. I want a name. How many people sat down at my desk yesterday?"

"Nobody would have had a reason to do that."

"Well, someone did." Her eyes sparked as she changed the background back to the default setting. "And they're going to regret it when I find out who they are. Where's Tory? Is she in yet?"

"I don't think so," answered Ryan. "Heard she had a late night last night."

Kate's demeanor changed immediately. "Someone catch a case?"

"Not that kind of a late night." Taking a sip from his mug, he glanced significantly over at Esposito's desk. It was still unoccupied. "But that's just a rumor."

After years of observation, Castle had come to the firm opinion that high schools had nothing on police precincts when it came to gossip. A good, juicy story could easily approach the speed of light as it traveled through the ranks, and there was a much better chance of accuracy.

Kate frowned. "I'm not in the mood to talk about people's personal lives."

"That's too bad, because just about everyone's talking about yours. That was a pretty sweet kiss the two of you shared at the bomb scene, and right in front of –"

"Ryan." She leaned forward as she aimed her glare. "Are you out of reports to file?"

"Nope," he answered, still cheerful. "Got plenty of those still left to finish. Oh, hey, here's the lover boy himself. Well, the other one. Good morning! Isn't it a gorgeous day after a beautiful night?"

"Eighty-six that," was Esposito's reply as he yanked his chair out from under his desk and sat down. "Sorry I'm late."

"Not such a beautiful night, then? Wait, don't tell me you struck out again."

"If you want to live through the next hour, you'll knock that off right now. Did I miss anything?" he asked, turning toward Kate.

"I just got here myself," she answered. "But it sounds like I missed the fun-and-games fairies yesterday. Which means they won't get killed yet, since I'm still trying to identify suspects. What went on while I was out yesterday?"

"Fairly simple one," answered Esposito. "The Jack-shot-Jill-over-Bill kind that I like." He held up a stack of paperwork. "Just got to finish this up. After I finish requesting a new partner. One that has some manly dignity."

"Oh, no," said Kate. "If you have to deal with him, so do I."

"Hey. You asked me to shut it down and I shut it down. Don't talk about me like I'm not here!"

Castle leaned back in his chair, letting the banter wash over him as he pulled out his iPhone to check his email. He'd sent his latest chapter over yesterday but hadn't yet heard back, which was unusual. Gina usually sent an acknowledgment, and a snide remark about timing, fairly quickly.

Kate's phone rang. "Beckett. Yeah, I'm next on the rotation." She pulled her pad over to write on it. "Okay. Location?"

_237 Park Ave_, she wrote on the pad. He blinked, startled, and leaned closer to peer at it. He must be reading it wrong.

"Uh-huh, got it. Who's the reporting officer?"

She jotted down the informant's name next to the address. "Suite 800, you said?"

No. That couldn't possibly be right.

"And you said the person who found her's still there? What was her name?" At the response, her eyes flicked up to meet his. "It was _who?_ What's at that location?"

He was dimly aware of the clatter his phone made as it tumbled out of fingers gone nerveless.

"Black Pawn Publishing," she repeated into the phone. "All right. I'm on my way." She hung up and reached for his hand. "It's not Gina, Castle. Gina was the person who called the police."

He blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "Can we get Lanie on this one?"

"She's already on her way. Will you be able to handle this? I really ought to send you home."

"Not a chance," he answered, though his legs proved unsteady the first time he tried to push to his feet. It worked the second time, though. "I'll handle it."

He'd _make_ himself handle it, if he had to.

* * *

"How many people do you know at Black Pawn?" she asked as they came out of the elevator.

"A handful," he answered. "But it's a big company. They're an imprint of Hyperion. One of the smaller ones. I prefer it that way, since it means I work with a specific group of people who are all right here in the City."

He was babbling, he thought, but she didn't call him on it. "Mm-hmm. Does Gina have an assistant? Colleagues or co-workers that she doesn't quite get along with?"

"You can't seriously think she's involved."

"It helps to get the lay of the land –" she broke off as they rounded the corner into the reception area. And into chaos.

There seemed to be uniforms everywhere, and he could hear Lanie's voice as she barked orders. CSU had also already arrived on scene, and were laying out evidence markers. But his eyes went immediately toward the group of people standing in the hallway that led toward the offices.

Apparently, the dead body had been placed there, where nobody was going to miss it.

"Rick." Gina stumbled out of the crowd toward him. He caught her shoulders and she buried her face in his neck. She was shaking, and he had to resist the urge to say _It's okay_.

"Who is it?" he asked instead.

"Maizie. My intern." She took several short, hitching breaths, and he could feel the tension in her back as she fought for control. "It was her last week here. She was about to graduate."

"Okay," he said, catching Kate's eye and shaking his head. She nodded and turned away to talk to someone else. "Were you the one who found her?"

"Yes." Gina's voice began to steady, though she stayed in his embrace. "A few minutes after eight. We had a function last night, so I'd okayed coming in late this morning."

"Only you would consider 8:00 a.m. to be late."

The jibe had the desired effect, and she laughed shakily, stepping back as she regained her composure. He kept a hand under her elbow, offering support. "I'm surprised you even know what a clock is. She was lying here when I came in. I didn't touch anything. I just ran out and yelled for someone to call 911."

"That was the right thing to do." He gave her fingers a final squeeze before dropping his arm. "Are you up to talking to the detectives yet?"

"Of course I am." She looked around. "I don't see Detective Beckett. Is she here?"

"She's probably examining the body. Will you be all right if we go back over there?"

"No, but we'll go over anyway." She took a last deep breath before she led him through the knots of people to the hallway.

Maizie had been a beautiful young woman with long blonde hair. She had been left on her back, perpendicular to the hallway, with her hands folded neatly over her chest. Her hair was brushed back from her face, revealing an almost peaceful expression above the evidence of strangulation that surrounded her neck.

Based on the marks, the weapon had been a three-stranded rope. This time, it was Castle who reached out to Gina seeking support. "Oh, my God."

"Rick?" She was concerned. "Is there something –"

"I've seen this before. It was _him_."

Lanie looked up from where she'd been swabbing the body's fingertips. "Get your breath, Castle. The rope was hemp, not nylon, and there's evidence of sexual assault." She paused. "He never did that before, not to any of his victims."

"That doesn't rule him out."

"Rule who out?" asked Gina.

"There's no way 3XK could've survived the fall off that bridge," said Kate as she stepped up from somewhere else. "And this isn't his calling card. It wasn't him, Castle."

"Are you positive? Because he's disappeared before. He's changed things around before." He had ample reason to remember. The memory of Tessa Horton's body, wrapped in barb wire and fastened to the ceiling, still sometimes stalked through his dreams.

"I can't be positive until I get into the lab, but I will be then," answered Lanie. She indicated the evidence bag sitting next to her. "There's enough skin under her fingernails to give me a DNA sample. Now that we know who 3XK was –"

"Who he _is_." He'd believe the man was dead when he saw a body.

"Fine, who he is. We can run a check and be sure. But he wouldn't have been so stupid as to leave so much trace evidence at a scene."

"He might, if he thought it would throw us off the trail."

"Castle," said Kate, and this time she stepped closer in order to make the conversation private. "Don't build Tyson into someone superhuman. He is capable of making mistakes. On the off chance that it is him –"

"The off chance? Have you _looked_ at her?"

"Yes." Her eyes flashed. "Yes, I know what it looks like, and yes, the body's obviously been staged. But there are a lot of intelligent sociopaths out there, and we don't even know that's what happened here. For all we know it was a crime of passion."

He glanced at the body again. Crime of passion. Right. The killer had been cool-headed enough to dump her right here, in his publisher's office, and arrange her in a way that would be easily recognizable. Did Kate really believe someone would do all of that in the heat of the moment?

"Okay," she said after watching the expressions change on his face. "You're right. It's probably not a crime of passion. But if we jump to conclusions, we could miss something important. Try to keep an open mind, Castle."

That was a more logical argument, and he found himself nodding jerkily. "All right."

"I know you said you can handle this, but maybe you'd be better off taking Gina home as soon as we're done questioning her. I can meet you at the loft, later, and let you know what we find."

He shook his head. "I'm fine."

"Are you?" But despite the skepticism in her tone, she didn't push the issue. "Did you know her? The victim, I mean."

"I'd probably talked to her a couple of times," he answered. "But I didn't know her, no. If she was an intern she hadn't been here very long."

"Does Gina usually accept interns?"

"It's not unusual, but she doesn't do it every semester. I think it had been a year and a half before this one came on board." His gaze drifted back to group standing around the body. Esposito had already led Gina off into a corner to talk to her. "She's picky about the program. This one will probably be from either Columbia or NYU."

Kate looked at her notepad. "She's actually from Brown."

"Really? That's a long way to come for an internship."

That elicited a faint smile. "How many publishers are based out of Rhode Island? You'd know better than I would."

"Not many. But she can't be commuting, if she's from that far away." As he started considering possibilities, he felt himself begin to recover from the shock. "Do we know where she's staying?"

"With some family friends. Ryan's giving them a call now." She sighed. "I imagine she never believed, when she moved here, that she'd never go back to Providence."

* * *

"Not Providence," said the striking middle-aged woman sitting in interview. "She was raised by her grandparents on Martha's Vineyard. We were friends of her parents."

Kate made a couple of notes. "Her parents are alive, then? Why didn't they raise her?"

"Her father's still alive," answered her husband, who'd identified himself as Gus Kline and his wife as Victoria. "Her mother…" he trailed off. "Her mother disappeared in 1995. But she'd been out of the country for a while before that. Maizie didn't remember her."

"Bru – that's her father – wasn't really ever the same afterward," said Victoria. "That's why she was with her grandparents. Gus, how are we going to tell them?"

He shook his head. "After the way they lost Caitlin, this is going to destroy them. Is there anything you can tell us about what happened?"

"Only that she was found this morning at the site of her internship," said Kate. "It looked like she'd been killed somewhere else and then brought there. Mr. and Mrs. Kline, is there anyone who would've wanted to do harm to Maizie? Did she have any friends, romantic relationships with people here in New York? Something that could've gone wrong?"

"No, nothing like that. She didn't come up here often. This is the longest visit she's ever made to the City, and we were almost the only people she knew."

"Did she ever go out while she was here? Meet anyone new? Even just a chance encounter could be important."

"Not Maizie. She was a bit of a homebody, and very shy around strangers. Her grandparents…" now it was Victoria who trailed off. "They're absolutely wonderful, but after losing Caitlin they tended to be a bit smothering. We had to actively encourage her to go as far away as Brown."

"Did they resent that?"

"No," said Gus. "They supported the decision."

"What about other family? Her father, was he remarried? What was the relationship there?"

"Bru's not like that."

"Are you positive?"

They exchanged a glance. "Yes," said Victoria. She blinked tears out of her eyes. "Why are you so interested in her family? None of them are here. Surely this had to be a random stranger –"

Castle jumped in, in an effort to defuse the situation. "We're not saying her family had anything to do with it. But it helps to build a picture of who she was, the other people she might have encountered. One of them could lead us to the killer."

Her husband laid a hand over hers. "It's all right. We're just – this wasn't what we had in mind when we offered to let her stay with us. She was supposed to be safe."

"Did you have any strange visitors, odd encounters of your own?"

"No," said Victoria, who seemed to have recovered some of her aplomb. "Not that I can think of."

Gus was frowning. "Maybe. There was that guy from the gas company a couple weeks ago. He needed to come into our apartment to take care of something. We hadn't been told anything was wrong in the building. But when he came up, he just looked around for a few minutes and left. He didn't actually do anything."

That behavior was right in line with 3XK's pattern. Castle leaned forward. "Do you remember what he looked like? Did you talk to him?"

"We didn't say anything. I don't really remember any details, but he was medium height, dark-haired. He said he was a little surprised to see me home since it was the middle of the day. I told him I'm a journalist. We sometimes work unusual hours."

He turned to Kate. "It could have been him. Scoping out the place. We know he watches the victims for a while, to establish their patterns, and poses as a repairman. You have to admit it looks suspicious."

"I don't have to admit anything. We're still waiting on the testing results."

"Why are you so determined to prove it wasn't Tyson?"

"Tyson?" asked Gus, face paling. "Are you talking about _Jerry Tyson?_ The Triple Killer? I thought he was killed late last year."

Kate held his eyes steadily. "We're exploring a lot of different theories at this point. It's too early to jump to any conclusions. And you're well-informed, Mr. Kline. The NYPD does believe that Jerry Tyson is no longer alive."

"Do you?" he asked.

"I was there when it happened," she replied, but Castle noted it wasn't quite an answer. Maybe she did believe it was possible, after all.

Then again, she certainly seemed anxious to prove otherwise. He grimaced inwardly as Kate led the interview in another direction. He certainly knew what he believed.

* * *

_Well, so much for "updating every Tuesday," but I had a bit of an excuse this time: I had gone out of town for Memorial Day, and foolishly thought that I'd be able to write where I was. I should've known better, and that put me behind. Hopefully that will prove to be the exception, not the rule, though._

_Thank you so much for the follows and reviews! And if the names from the victim's circle of family and friends sound familiar, that's because they are. This is Castle! Of course there are supposed to be shout-outs and references!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Castle_ is the copyrighted property of ABC Studios. This fiction item is intended for entertainment purposes only. No compensation has been received or will be accepted for it, and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended or should be implied.

* * *

**Two by Two**  
_Chapter Three_

* * *

"Sexual assault," said Lanie as she pulled a sheet over Maizie's body. "Exterior and interior vaginal bruising, trace amounts of seminal fluid. There was just enough for me to send it over for a DNA analysis, but that's not back yet."

"What about the skin under her fingernails?" Five years ago, Kate reflected, Castle would have either already had to leave the room or he would be visibly fighting the urge to lose it. Now, he wasn't even pale as they discussed the autopsied body in front of him. She wondered if that was a good or a bad thing.

"I sent that over too. It's going to take a few hours before it comes back."

"And the strangulation?" he asked. "Was that how she died?"

"Yes, but like I said at the scene, the rope was hemp instead of nylon. The only similarity is that it was triple stranded. She also fought. There were defensive wounds all over her hands, her arms, her face. There were even traces of blood on her teeth." Lanie held up a hand before Castle could continue. "Not enough to type or send off, but I couldn't find any bite marks on the body. She bit him, not herself. Tox screen's not back yet either, but I don't think we're going to find anything. She was awake."

"Tyson usually drugged his victims," said Kate softly. "He used a nylon rope. And he never sexually assaulted any of them. Castle, it just doesn't look like his work."

He shook his head, a mulish look crossing his face. "It's him."

"Look, it's late, and we can start back tomorrow –"

He asked the same question he'd asked during the Klines' interview. "Why are you so determined to prove it wasn't Tyson?"

"Why are you so determined to prove it was?" She'd held back her counterattack during the interview, not wanting to upset Maizie's friends further, but they'd argued in front of Lanie before. "Our job is to follow the evidence, and it's just not pointing that direction!"

"We don't even know for certain that he's alive," said Lanie softly.

"He is. Don't you think it's even remotely suspicious that he hits my publisher's assistant right when I turn in a critical chapter? Especially since Gina had given it to Maizie for preliminary review? She said she'd done it to give her some practice." Now he finally turned away. "She said that if this hadn't happened I probably wouldn't have ever even known she'd done that. But I would have. Gina's reviews have a style to them."

"Is that normal?" asked Kate. "For Gina to review your chapters herself?"

"Yes. I'm pretty high on the priority list."

Maybe a bit of humor would defuse the tension. "That's quite the ego."

"It's the truth!" He spun back to face her. "And don't try to distract me. There are no such things as coincidences, and this was planned. Maizie was killed because she dealt with my work."

Now she could feel annoyance creeping into her voice. "Now your ego's going over the top, Castle. Maizie dealt with a lot of people's work."

"How many of Gina's authors had chapters due this week? How many of them write mysteries and have nemeses who are capable of –" he threw a hand toward the body "– _that?_"

"Probably more than one," she snapped. "Raping and strangling someone as small as she is, isn't terribly difficult."

"Maybe not physically, but emotionally it is. You were there in interview. She wasn't the kind who'd develop that sort of enemy. _But I have._"

"It's too early to be certain. At least wait for the DNA results –"

"They're going to be negative. Because that's exactly what he wants us to see." He made a scoffing noise. "You want to chase your tail, that's fine, but I'm not going to wait for this to happen again. I'm going to – hell, I don't know what I'm going to do. But I can't stay here and do nothing."

There was a long silence that followed his exit before Lanie spoke. "Well, that was dramatic."

Kate closed her eyes. "It's been a long week."

"Do you need to go after him? Keep him from doing something stupid?"

"No," she answered, hoping it was true and remembering other cases he'd investigated on his own. They'd had a long talk about that once, after the lines of communication got straightened out. "I think he was just blowing off steam."

"What about you?"

"What about me?" She pulled out her notebook, began to make some notes. "I'm investigating a murder. Is there anything else pertinent about the autopsy results?"

Lanie's scoffing noise sounded remarkably like Castle's. "Do not even start that with me. You're the one who stood on a bomb for hours only to come back and have a very visible argument with your partner on the very first day. You were also a little too quiet there. Something's going on, and you're not leaving until you tell me what."

Was it that obvious? She lowered the notebook, but couldn't meet her friend's eyes. "I overheard an argument between Castle and his mother."

"Really. About you?"

"Yeah." She said it slowly. "He's thinking about buying a ring."

"He's what?" Lanie squealed. "Oh my God! That's –" she broke off, seeing the expression on Kate's face. "That's not wonderful? Why?"

"Martha wasn't too thrilled with the idea. From the way she was talking, Alexis might not be either." She sighed. "This was right after we'd gotten home from the bomb case. I want to think it was just because she was upset about him staying with me. But what if it's more than that? What if they've just been being nice to me for his sake?"

"So what? It's his life. His decision to be with you."

"Lanie, I don't want to come between him and his family. He loves them so much. It'd tear him apart, and after everything I've already done to hurt him? I can't do that."

She folded her arms. "Does Castle know about all this?"

"There hasn't really been a chance to bring it up in conversation. Martha saw me, though, so she knows I overheard at least part of it."

"Have you talked to her?"

"I haven't seen her since it happened. How would I ask her anyway? 'Excuse me, but do you hate me?' That's not a question anyone wants to hear, and she wouldn't take it well. For all I know it'd just make things worse."

"What are you so afraid of, all of a sudden?"

"What?" Now she was able to meet her friend's eyes. "I'm not afraid of anything."

"Sure could fool me. You think you might be coming between him and his family, but you're afraid to find out for sure. You heard him talking about taking the next step in the relationship, but you're afraid of what that might mean, too. Kate, you are a bundle of fear right now." Lanie paused. "And you remember what happened the last time you heard Castle say something but kept it a secret, don't you?"

"That worked out, in the end."

"Just barely! You need to talk to him. Soon."

On one level, she knew that, but… "Lanie, didn't you hear him just now? It's not the right time."

"When is it ever? I don't mean right this second. Let him calm down a little. But don't let this sit too long, Kate. Don't let it turn into another problem. You both have enough right now." Lanie gestured to the body on the table. "It might not have been 3XK, but it was similar enough to upset him. You too. Now's a time for you to be strong together, not hurt alone."

"I know, and I will be." She shook her head. "I just don't know how this is going to work out."

"It will, one way or the other. Go find him, Kate. He's had enough time to calm down by now. And whether or not you want to admit to the fear, you have to admit that things aren't right. Letting that continue won't be good for either of you."

* * *

She found him in the break room, concentrating on something he was doing on his phone. After watching for a minute, Kate crossed over to the coffee machine and got him a cup.

Castle looked up when she set it down next to his elbow. "Hey."

"Hey. What are you doing?"

He closed the app on the phone and set it down. "Um. Checking my email."

Did he even know how lousy a liar he could be sometimes?

He gestured toward the coffee cup. "Decaf for the road?"

"No, I'm not sending you home. Can I sit down?"

"Since when have you needed permission, Kate?" He wiped a hand over his eyes. "Is this going to be my official scolding for downstairs?"

"You were upset. It's understandable. Castle, is there something going on?" The precinct wasn't really the right place to have this conversation, but she didn't want to have it in the loft. That was still his turf, even if there were weeks when she spent more nights there than at her own place.

His face blanked. "Why would you think that?"

"You've seemed…on edge today. Even before we caught the case."

"No," he answered. But then he closed his eyes. "Okay. Yeah, I was a little bit. I had been waiting to hear from Gina about yesterday's chapter, but now I know why I didn't. The rest of it's the case, Kate. That's all."

She wasn't going to get an easy opening, was she? Kate opened her mouth to start a full frontal approach but Esposito poked his head into the break room before she got her first words out. "Ryan's back. He finished the preliminary background on the victim."

He was pinning a picture to the murder board as they got out to the bullpen. "Maizie Brudegher," he began. "Born in 1991 on Martha's Vineyard and raised there by her grandparents after her parents' marriage fell apart. She was an English major at Brown University with a minor in, of all things, statistics."

"That's unusual," murmured Castle. "Most English majors avoid math at all costs."

"You would know, wouldn't you?" retorted Esposito.

"That's why I have a financial adviser."

Ryan ignored the byplay. "She was an 'A' student and qualified for academic scholarships, but didn't accept any since her education has been funded in full by the Somers Foundation, which was established by her great-great-grandparents and is still primarily administered by her step-grandmother. That's the same grandmother that helped raise her."

"The Somers Foundation?" asked Kate. "Why does that sound familiar?"

"They do a lot of scholarship donations and fundraising," answered Castle. "They've even made some contributions to the Johanna Beckett Scholarship." Most of the day-to-day administration of that was handled by the aforementioned financial adviser, but he made quarterly reports to both of them. "That's a good bit of money. Was she the heir?"

"Yes, but not the only one. Her uncle, her mother's brother, has two children. All three of them have trust funds but they haven't reached the age of access, and they're also set to come onto the Foundation's board of directors when they turn thirty."

Kate pursed her lips. "Quite the legacy. Isn't her father still alive? Is he also an heir?"

"No, she's related to it through her mother."

"Wasn't she the one who walked out on her and then disappeared altogether? What's the father's financial situation right now?"

Ryan consulted his notes. "He's a construction superintendent and his wife owns a health foods store. They're comfortable, but definitely middle-class."

"How's his business fared, with the real estate bust?"

"Not too well, actually. There are some old wobbles on their financials, the kind of thing you'd expect to see if they're having some trouble making ends meet off and on. But I don't see anything recent that pops out as a red flag, other than their checking account's a bit anemic."

"Hmm," said Kate. "Has the Somers Foundation ever given them any assistance?"

"Not that I could find."

"So here we have a woman whose father is having trouble off and on, but who has access to what could be a significant funding source from her mother's family."

"Could speak to motive," observed Esposito.

"Yeah, but he's all the way out on Martha's Vineyard," argued Castle. "That's five hours away. It's a long way to go just to kill someone."

"People have gone further," answered Kate. "Was he on the Vineyard when you called him?"

Ryan fidgeted. "I, ah, never actually spoke to him myself. Had to pass a message through the wife. Apparently he doesn't carry a cell phone. But she called back to say he was on the way."

She put the pieces together in her mind. "So he could actually already be in the City, and just delaying his arrival to make it look like he had to drive from Massachusetts."

"Looks that way."

"Let's tug that string and see if it leads anywhere." She heard footsteps behind her and turned to greet the newcomer. "Captain Gates. We're just about ready to give you a report."

"Good. What do you have, Detective?"

Kate summarized their findings so far. "We'll bring the victim's father into interrogation," she finished, "and see if his story holds up under questioning. It could be nothing, but it could also give us a lead."

"And the DNA tests?"

She glanced at the clock. "Probably tomorrow, given how late it already is. There's no telling whether they'll give us a new lead or back up one of the existing theories."

"Theories, plural? You've only outlined the family connection so far. Is there something else?"

"Yes, sir," she answered slowly, inwardly grimacing at giving too much away. "Castle seems to think that this murder looks like the work of someone we've investigated before."

"The Triple Killer," answered Gates, nodding. "Mr. Castle. You knew the victim, didn't you?"

"No, sir."

"But she worked for your publisher, isn't that right?"

"Yes, sir."

Not for the first time, Kate smothered a smile at hearing him address the captain as _sir_, just like the rest of them did.

"You've had more than one personal run-in with Jerry Tyson. Are you sure you're not just projecting your own experiences onto this case, given how closely you're already connected?"

Castle flushed slightly, but stood his ground. "A lot of the details match. She was a young, pretty blonde and the killer strangled her with a triple-stranded rope. Then he posed her in a peaceful, funeral pose at another location. This followed an encounter at the place where she was staying, where he apparently posed as a gas company employee."

Gates slid her eyes over to encompass the detectives. "Yet my people don't seem to think this is the best theory."

"There's no evidence Tyson's even alive," said Esposito after a long moment.

"But there's no evidence he's dead, either, and this man's shown he doesn't always stick to a rigid pattern already. Mr. Castle, how confident are you about this? You should know that I've already heard about your outburst in the morgue."

"I'm…" he trailed off, a note of uncertainty coming into his voice. "It's awfully convenient that the victim happened to work for my publisher and the murder happened right after I'd submitted some new work. But I…I suppose I could be mistaken."

"Or you could not be," answered Gates. "Your logic's sound enough, Mr. Castle. Detective Esposito, where are you on interviewing the witnesses at Black Pawn?"

"I'm done, Captain. Just need to write up my notes. There wasn't anything unexpected."

"When you're done with that, go ahead and pursue this line of inquiry. It's secondary," she continued, apparently in response to the surprised looks. "But worth taking the time to rule out."

"Who was that," asked Castle softly after she walked away, "and what did she do with Iron Gates?"

"Oh, come on, bro, she's agreed with you before."

She had, thought Kate, but not to the point of openly disagreeing with her detectives. Of course, 3XK had thwarted Gates, too, the last time he'd popped up. She'd been the one who'd closed the murder case against Castle late last year, and who'd asked the DA to either drop or reduce the associated weapons and escape charges.

But she'd also made it clear that she thought Tyson's fall off the bridge, especially after having been shot multiple times, was unsurvivable.

Shaking her head, Kate sat down at her desk as Esposito beckoned Castle over to his, making a comment about getting started on figuring out exactly which details matched and which didn't. She was halfway through the first page of her interim report when she felt eyes on her.

Looking up, she saw Gates looking back at her from behind the glass wall to her office. The captain smiled slightly, almost conspiratorially, before turning away.

A seemingly-unrelated memory drifted back. _I don't intend to dig up the past and tarnish Roy Montgomery's reputation. The fact is, I admire your loyalty. I hope you feel that for me someday._

Behind it came a memory from two days ago. _Just kiss the man. As long as we're on neutral ground, I'd say he deserves it. Wouldn't you?_

When she'd first met Captain Gates, Kate never would have imagined being able to think the word "conspiratorially" in the same sentence with her name. But now, after hearing the captain's unexpected support of Castle, she found it wasn't so difficult.

Nor, she decided, was it unpleasant.

* * *

_Wow! Look at the awesome cover art that Angie (dtrekker) made for this story! Isn't it amazing?_


	4. Chapter 4

_Castle_ is the copyrighted property of ABC Studios. This fiction item is intended for entertainment purposes only. No compensation has been received or will be accepted for it, and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended or should be implied.

* * *

**Two by Two**  
_Chapter Four_

* * *

Joseph Brudegher was agitated. Rather than sitting at the table in the interrogation room, he paced from corner to corner, his hands moving constantly as he scrubbed them through his hair, shoved them in his pockets, took them out again to fiddle with the microphones.

"That man is anything but calm," observed Esposito as they stood on the other side of the one-way mirror. "How much longer do you think Beckett's going to let him wind himself up?"

"Probably not much," answered Castle.

As if on cue, the interrogation room door opened and Kate strode in. Ryan was only a few steps behind, carrying a sheaf of papers. He wondered if they had anything to do with the case.

"Mr. Brudegher," she began. "I'm sorry to keep you waiting."

"When can I see her? I want to see Maizie. Where's my little girl?"

"Sit down, please, Mr. Brudegher. We'll take you to her, but we need to go over a few things first."

"Can't we do that after I see her?"

"I'm afraid not. The medical examiner isn't quite done with the body –"

"Don't talk about her like that. She was a _person_. She was my daughter."

"And yet she was raised by her grandparents. Why was that?"

That stopped him, and he dropped heavily into one of the chairs. "It – when Caitlin left, she asked them to take care of her, and it just sort of never got discussed. I wasn't exactly able to take care of her myself at the time. I had joint legal custody."

"You never petitioned for physical custody?"

He wouldn't meet their eyes. "Abby and Lamb were a more stable situation. As long as they didn't keep her from me, that was enough. And they never did."

Could he have done that? Castle wondered. Could he have admitted it he hadn't been the most stable situation for Alexis? Could he even have handled joint legal custody over the long term? He and Meredith had done that for a couple of years, but it had already become a nightmare by the time of the lunch-in-Paris incident. He'd gone back to the court after that.

Then he looked at the expression on Brudegher's face again. Yes, he realized. He could have done it. If there truly had been a better situation for Alexis, he would have let her go. It would have torn him apart, but for her sake he'd have done it.

All the same, he was thankful that he'd never been faced with that particular decision.

He refocused his awareness on the interview. "No," Brudegher was saying. "I mean, she dated some, yeah, but if there was anyone here in the City, it wasn't serious enough to talk about it. She hadn't yet landed a job for after graduation, so she'd mostly been focused on that."

"So she had been going on interviews?" asked Ryan.

"Probably. I don't know. Gus and Vix could answer that better. It'd make sense if she had, though." A ghost of a smile went across his face. "I don't know where she gets it from, but Maizie's a lot more grounded than either Caitlin or me. She's going to go places." His face fell. "She was. Oh, God. Now she isn't, is she?"

"No," said Kate. "I'm sorry, Mr. Brudegher."

"I want to see her. Are we done here yet?"

"Not quite. You've had some trouble with money recently. People aren't building as much due to the recession, so business is slowing down."

"Yeah. Things cycle like that sometimes, but it's starting to pick up a little. What does that have to do with this?"

"How have you been making ends meet through the slowdown?"

His expression narrowed. "By cutting back, like any sensible person. You know I don't have a cell phone. Hell, I've lived without electricity before, but my wife's store is doing well enough that we haven't had to cut back that far this time. There's a lot you can do without if you want."

"So you've never been tempted to ask Maizie for help? Or her grandparents?"

"What? No. If I'm going to make it, my family and I, we're going to do it on our own. Not with someone else's help. Especially not theirs." The underlying resentment was obvious.

Kate's eyes flickered, but she made no comment about it, instead choosing to continue the line of questioning. "Whose help? Maizie's or her grandparents'?"

"Maizie's money came from her grandparents, and she didn't have full access to it yet. She was using what she did have to pay for college and living expenses. Wait a minute. Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"What do you think we're saying?"

"Are you saying I went after her for her money? What is wrong with you? Maizie was my daughter and we were doing just fine! How could you even – is this what they call investigating now? What's wrong with you people? Why do you have me in here instead of going after whatever crazy did this to her?" His face had colored, and his voice was rising toward a shout. "No wonder New York's so dangerous, if this is the best you can do. Who do I talk to about getting a real investigation done?"

"I'd be happy to let you speak with my Captain if you'd like," said Kate, and Castle could have sworn that the temperature dropped ten degrees even in observation. "But when the killer's defense lawyer asks questions, we want to make sure we already have the right answers. This is one of them. Where were you between eleven p.m. last night and six a.m. this morning?"

Brudegher's hands were clenched and his answer was clipped. "At home. In the Vineyard. I went to bed around ten because I had to be up at four-thirty to go out to a job site. Star was there. My wife. She probably watched TV until about midnight before she came to bed. She and the kids were still asleep when I got up."

"Do you and your wife always go to bed and get up at different times?" asked Ryan.

"That's none of the NYPD's business."

"What would she say if we called and asked her if you were home last night?"

"The same thing I just said." He leaned back, but every muscle was still tight with tension. "Call and ask if you want. While you're doing that I want to see my daughter. Now. I'm done talking until I do."

Kate exchanged a glance with Ryan. "We still have some more questions."

"It's not him," said Castle to Esposito.

"I don't know, bro," he answered. "The wife could be in on it."

"How many times has he asked to see Maizie? That's all he cares about. Not the money."

"Could be an act." Brudegher shoved his chair back and began pacing around interview again, shouting about a lawyer. "If it is, they'll break him before much longer."

An act? Couldn't they see that the man was losing it because he was being kept from his child?

"God damn it!" yelled Brudegher. "I didn't marry Caitlin for the money! There was a prenup, damn it, and Maizie probably had a will. I don't know for sure because I didn't care about stuff like that. All I cared about was that she was my daughter!"

Kate looked at the observation room glass for a long moment before continuing. "Mr. Brudegher, we'll take you to see Maizie now, if you want. But the medical examiner's not quite done with her, and it might be better for you to wait until the morning. Can you stay in the City overnight?"

He dropped back into the chair, visibly deflated. "I've slept in my truck before."

"That's not safe," objected Ryan.

"I don't have the money for a hotel."

"I see." Kate nodded and they stood up as Ryan continued. "Why don't you wait here for a few minutes, and we'll go see if we can figure something out."

He barely acknowledged them, a look of abject misery crossing his face. Castle couldn't help but be sympathetic. What father wouldn't?

Out in the bullpen, Esposito was just hanging up his phone. "Lanie says she's done with the autopsy. What was that all about?"

"I want to see what he does tonight," answered Kate.

Castle joined them. "I don't think he's involved. Didn't you see him in there?"

She glanced at him. "I don't think he did it either, but I'm not sure he's not involved. Call it a gut feeling if you want. Ryan, see if you can get in touch with the wife before he does. I want to see if she really does –"

"Confirm the alibi, yeah, I know," he answered. "On it."

"Espo, see if you can find a cheap motel or a hostel space for him. You'd think he would have asked the people his daughter was staying with."

"They said they were friends of her mother's," said Castle. "Maybe there's bad blood there. It'd be like me staying with Meredith's friends if I went out to L.A. Awkward wouldn't even begin to describe that situation."

"And if Alexis was in trouble and that was your best option, you'd suck it up and do it anyway," she countered. "Come on, Castle. I want to see if anything's come through on the financials, but we should grab some dinner first."

He blinked, startled. When she was this far into a case, he usually had to pry her out of the precinct. "We could head back over to my place. That way you could keep at it while I cooked, if you wanted."

She shook her hair back as she sat down and started checking emails. "No, I need a break and some fresh air. What about Remy's?"

"Kate." He sat down in his chair next to her desk. "What about the case? Is this your way of trying to get me out of here before I ask about Jerry Tyson again?"

"I was wondering how long it would take you to get back to that." She sighed and turned to face him. "No. We need to talk, and not at your place, all right?"

Something twisted in his middle. "We do?"

"Yeah. Damn it." She closed her eyes and opened them again. "This isn't the right place. I overheard you talking to your mother the other night."

He took a long breath, thinking about the jewelry pictures he'd been looking through when she'd come into the break room. "How much of it?"

"Enough."

"She was upset, Kate. She didn't mean it."

"Are you sure about that? Or do you not want her to have meant it?"

"She lives with me, not the other way around. I don't need her permission for this."

"But you'd prefer having her approval." She leaned forward, reaching for his hand. "Don't pretend that's not true. I don't want to be the one who causes a problem between the two of you. Or between you and Alexis."

He turned his hand over to link his fingers with hers, but didn't close any of the rest of the distance. "Two years ago, they were both practically throwing us together. If they have a problem with this – and I think that's a big 'if' – it's momentary at best. They'll come around."

"Two years ago," she repeated. "What about a year ago?"

That was when he'd been on the verge of walking away for good. Alexis, especially, would have given that her full blessing at the time. She'd only directly confronted him about it once, right after Kate had come back to the City and he'd gone back to the precinct, but there had been enough sharp remarks and pointed looks to leave him absolutely certain about her opinion.

Lately, though, as she'd gotten more caught up in college-related activities – and, he suspected, this "Max" character he still had yet to meet – she'd seemed to at least come to accept the fact that he and Kate were finally together. She'd even asked after her a handful of times, including a couple where politeness didn't require it.

"If they're not all right with things," he answered slowly, "I think they will be. Alexis is coming around, and that was really the first time Mother has objected to something in a long time. She'd been watching the news the whole time, after all, and then when we came in like that…"

Kate squeezed his hand. "Yeah. I can imagine it would've upset her. All right." She looked away from him, across the bull pen. "Esposito, any luck?"

"Yeah, I found a place." From the look on his face, he'd accomplished that a few minutes ago and had been waiting for them to finish their conversation. "Want to go back in there?"

"Let's go." She stood up, dropping his hand, and he followed her.

"Kate," he said. "One more thing. You didn't, ah, you didn't overhear anything else that might have –" how could he come right out and ask this? "Might have been a bit disconcerting?"

She took a breath, and some tension appeared around her eyes. "No. But there's something you should know."

"What's that?"

"You'd never bring it up. But if your financial adviser hasn't, he will, and I don't want you in another argument. So just know this, all right? If it'd make things easier, I'd sign a prenup."

He opened his mouth to object, to say he'd never ask that of her, but closed it again as she strode off. There was really no answer to that one anyway, and it occurred to him a second later that she'd said there was nothing else _disconcerting_ about what she'd overheard.

Which, apparently, had included the comments about a ring.

It was an effort to keep from breaking into a huge grin as he followed her toward Interview, but when he went into Observation to find Captain Gates already in there, he decided the effort had been worth it. This time, it was Esposito who joined Kate in the box while Ryan stayed out in the bull pen, probably to keep working on the alibi.

"Mr. Castle," she greeted, though she didn't turn toward him.

"Captain." Closing the door, he joined her at the glass.

After a moment of listening, he could see her nodding out of the corner of his eye. "Good work, Beckett. He is a little too worked up."

"Agitated? Captain, it's his child."

"I have children, Mr. Castle. If I'd gotten this call about one of them, I'm not sure I'd even be coherent. But he's more than that. He's angry that the investigation is focusing on him."

He swallowed. "Sir, I was angry a few months ago when –"

"Not at the investigating officers," she answered. "You were angry about the situation. You had a right to be. But you didn't hesitate to answer any question the officers asked or do anything they requested. Even when the questions seemed to point the fingers in your direction. Even when you didn't agree with the decisions they were making."

"They were just doing their jobs, and I knew they had to clear me. But I've been shadowing the police for a while, and writing mystery novels longer. I'm familiar with all that. He isn't."

"Isn't he? I talked to the Vineyard police. He has a record." She glanced at him. "It's mostly minor drug violations, but there were also some assault charges, the kind that come after a fight. Or a domestic dispute."

"That doesn't make him a killer."

"No," she agreed. "But it does mean he knows enough to know that we're going to have to look at him in order to do our job right. Why is he so agitated about that?"

"Maybe he has something else to hide."

"Perhaps. But something's off, and Beckett's right to wonder what it is." She paused. "What about your theory?"

"The DNA results aren't back yet."

"If they're negative, will you agree we've ruled the Triple Killer out?"

He swallowed. He already knew the results would be negative. That was the way 3XK operated.

"Mr. Castle, I've come in here to talk to you privately, as much as I would love another opportunity to publicly demonstrate that you are not a member of the NYPD. That's because nobody wants to see a clear end to Jerry Tyson more than I do."

He doubted that, but he understood the sentiment.

"Your line of thought was logical enough to consider. But if there's no evidence supporting the Triple Killer, and another line of inquiry begins to look more likely, my detectives will be following that. I will not have a…" she trailed off. "A preconception, no matter how justified, ultimately result in us losing this case. Is that clear?"

Castle hadn't thought about that, but she was right. Having a killer walk free because they'd blown things on a technicality would be the worst possible outcome. Especially if it ended up actually being Jerry Tyson.

So he'd just have to make sure the case didn't get blown.

He took a breath. "Yes. Thank you for speaking to me in private about this. I appreciate it."

"Mr. Castle." A tone of warning entered her voice. "Do I need to worry about you investigating this on your own if it seems to head away from the Triple Killer?"

He kept his eyes focused on the Interview. "No, sir. You don't."

* * *

_As of the end of this chapter, I get a word count of 11,716 (this excludes notes, disclaimer text, etc.) So we're just a bit shy of a quarter of the way toward the word goal. Based on the rhythm so far, I think the story itself is likely going to end up somewhere around 60,000 words. Thank you to everyone who's been reading and reviewing!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Castle_ is the copyrighted property of ABC Studios. This fiction item is intended for entertainment purposes only. No compensation has been received or will be accepted for it, and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended or should be implied.

* * *

**Two by Two**  
_Chapter Five_

* * *

Castle said very little on the way home, but a glance over at him showed why: he was caught up in something on his iPhone. He'd been quiet ever since Brudegher's second interrogation, during which Captain Gates had been in Observation. Kate wondered what they'd talked about.

And what they'd talk about this evening.

As she pulled into the parking garage at the loft, he made a disappointed sound. "What is it?"

"I got an email from Alex Conrad."

She found her lips curving into a smile at the memory of the earnest young writer who'd come in to shadow them for a few days. "That's been a while. How is he?"

He sighed. "Not well. Black Pawn cancelled the contract for _Sincerely Dead_ a while back, and now they're apparently taking _Seriously Dead_ off their backlist. It's going out of print, although I guess they're going to leave the digital versions available."

Kate frowned. "What happened? His work was…" _pretty good_, she wanted to continue, but obviously she'd missed something. "It wasn't that bad."

"His work was really good. But it didn't sell." He put the iPhone on standby. "Sometimes that happens. I've had books that didn't chart, and are out of print now. You can't always predict what people are going to like."

"But you recovered, and kept on writing."

"I might not have, if it had happened to my first book." He sighed again. "Alex is talking about getting out of writing altogether."

"That would be a shame."

"Yeah," he said as they got out of the car. "It would. I'm going to try and talk him out of it. But this business sucks sometimes, and it won't be the first time it's chewed someone up and spit them out completely."

She reached over to lace her fingers through his as they strode into the elevator. "I'm sorry."

"He's the one who got the bad news."

"Yeah, but he was your mentee, and despite all the hazing, you liked him. It can't be pleasant to see this happen."

"No, but it's not the first time." He squeezed her hand before dropping it to take out his keys. "What did you have in mind for dinner? I was thinking –" he broke off as the loft's front door opened, revealing the sound of tears. Alexis and Martha were huddled together on the couch, and the younger woman's face was red and blotchy.

Castle rushed forward. "Mother? _Alexis?_ What's wrong?"

Alexis looked up, and colored even more before hiding her face in her grandmother's shoulder. Martha met his eyes. "Not now, Richard. It's a ladies' issue."

He paled. "She's not –"

"She's fine. You are fine, Alexis," she continued in response to what sounded like another sob. "Men are just pigs, that's all."

She caught her partner's wrist. "Didn't you say something about dinner? It'd be a good night to order Chinese, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, but –"

"Castle." She pulled him around so their eyes met. "Go away."

The look on his face spoke volumes, but he vanished into his study. Kate sat down on the coffee table. "Do you want me to go, too?"

Alexis recovered enough to shake her head. "Gram's right, I'm fine. I just…God, why do men _lie_ like that?"

"Is it Max, then?"

"Yeah." Fresh tears appeared. "He's _married_. All those times he's had to go do things with his family? It wasn't with his parents or brothers and sisters. It was with his wife and children." She sobbed again. "I'm a home wrecker."

"Oh, kiddo," said Martha, giving her another hug. "No you aren't."

"Home wreckers deliberately break up marriages," said Kate in agreement. "If you didn't know about it, then your grandmother's right. He was just a lying sack of –" she cut herself off automatically. She'd always tried to keep her language clean around Alexis, even though she was sure the girl had heard it before. "What happened?"

"His wife found out and called me."

She closed her eyes. "Oh, wow. She probably wasn't very nice."

"She was, actually. She asked me about myself, and told me she'd suspected something for a long time. Then she very politely told me that if we ever had _anything_ to do with each other again, she'd come down to the City and do everything she could to ruin my life. As if this hasn't already come close. How can I show my face around campus again?"

"Did you tell her you didn't know he was married?'

"Yeah, but I don't know if she believed me. She said I had to be naïve, and she was right. God, the signs were all there. How could I have been so stupid?"

Kate leaned forward to take her hands. "Alexis, this isn't your fault. You always see the best in people, even when it's not worth seeing. That's all that happened here. He took advantage of that."

"That's what I've been trying to tell her," said Martha.

"Your grandmother's right, then. There's nothing to be ashamed of. You broke it off, right? You're not going to see him again?"

Alexis shook her head. "I came right here. I…I didn't call him or anything. I just sent a text. But I'm not going to do any more than that." Her tone became a little firmer. "I'm not going to take his calls, or even speak to him outside of class. It's too late in the semester to change sections, but if he marks me down –"

Kate blinked, surprised. "He's one of the professors?"

"He's a TA."

She and Martha exchanged a glance. "Honey, has he dated students before? Do you know?"

Alexis shrugged, but she wouldn't meet either of their eyes. Kate bit her lip in an effort to keep the ire at bay. "How old is he?"

"Thirty. Or so he says. He could've lied about that, too."

"Are you willing to give me his full name? I'd like to do some checking."

"Kate," said Martha in a tone that told her she'd guessed her line of thought. "She's not underage."

"No," she answered, meeting the older woman's eyes. "_She's_ not."

Alexis straightened. "What are you two talking about?"

They exchanged another glance, but before either of them could speak there was a knock on the door. Martha almost leapt up. "That's dinner. I'll take care of it. Can you…?"

"Yeah," said Kate, wondering if Castle would approve of her explaining this to Alexis. It was going to shatter the younger woman's innocence even more.

But while he'd always been protective toward his daughter, he'd never lied to her or tried to shelter her from reality. Steeling herself, Kate moved over to the couch. "Alexis, this is going to be hard for you to hear. But you should know that there are…" how could she do this gently? "You know about predators, right?"

"Predators? Kate, I'm smarter than that!"

_No_, she thought. _Not when it comes to the sneakier ones._ She had to swallow her own tears before she continued.

* * *

Kate had to give him credit: when she glanced at the laptop's screen, he had the final chapter of _Deadly Heat_ pulled up. But based on the way he was staring at it when she came into the study, she doubted he'd done any more than a couple of minor edits.

"Dinner's here," she told him. "It has been for a while, actually, and I know you can hear the door buzzer in here. Why didn't you come out?"

He looked up, and the misery in his eyes shot straight to her heart. "You asked me not to, and I wasn't that hungry anyway. Is she all right?"

"No, but she will be. There's no damage, Castle. It's just…" she sighed. "I don't think we'll be hearing about Max anymore."

"They broke up?"

"Yeah, and it wasn't a good one."

"Are they ever?" Wiping a hand over his face, he stood up. "Is she up to seeing me yet?"

She offered him a hand. "Alexis took her food and went upstairs. Will you do her a favor and not follow her yet? She still needs to settle down a little." Castle's daughter was naturally fair-skinned, but there had been absolutely no color in her face by the time Kate had finished explaining the psychology of what had happened to her.

Tugging her closer, he wrapped his free arm around her shoulders and pressed his face into her hair. She responded, holding him for a long moment before continuing. "It's not you, Castle. She's just embarrassed and upset right now. But you've always been a good Dad, and you're being a better one by leaving her alone until she's ready."

"I know," he breathed. "And I know I have to let her go through this. But it's so hard to see her hurting and know there's nothing I can do."

"She's probably going to stay the night, so you'll see her in the morning."

He pulled back to look at her. "Will you, then? Just in case she needs you?"

Kate hesitated. She hadn't planned on it, since she wanted to take some time to investigate this Maxwell Schandler character. Given that Alexis had asked her not to do it – as well as asking her not to tell Castle exactly who Max had been – she didn't want to make that call from the loft.

_But she's not underage, so it's not a criminal case_, she reminded herself. _It can wait until morning._

Castle leaned his forehead against hers. "You know, if Alexis resented your presence, she wouldn't have talked to you about this. And Mother wouldn't have let that happen unless she'd been all right with it as well. Don't you see? They want you here just as much as I do."

That hadn't occurred to her. But he was right, especially given that Alexis had trusted her enough to believe that she'd honor her agreement not to give her father all of the details.

"Stay, Kate. Please. I know it's not the evening we'd had in mind, but I still wish you would."

"All right," she answered, realizing that somewhere inside she'd wanted to do it anyway. "Now come out and get something to eat."

* * *

The DNA tests had come through when they got to the precinct the next morning. Kate tried to keep her comments neutral when she called down to get them, but he'd guessed the results before she hung up anyway. "Negative. What a surprise."

She sighed, not quite able to meet his eyes. "You know what this means."

"I do. But this is exactly the way 3XK operates."

"Castle." She called up the case report on her computer. "Try to think about this objectively for a second. What would you be thinking if this were an older man we'd found in his living room?"

"It wasn't an older man we found in his living room."

"Quit being twelve. The first thing you'd do is talk about physical evidence. And even if we thought we were positive the neighbor had done it, if the DNA testing came back negative –"

He closed his eyes for a moment. "Don't. I heard you, all right?"

"Morning, Beckett. Morning, Castle." Ryan was cheerful again this morning, although he'd toned it down to something approaching normal as he dropped a report on Beckett's desk. _Must be getting used to getting lucky every night_, she thought, but squelched any outward comment. "Picked this up on the way in. Our man Brudegher had an interesting evening."

"Really." She skimmed through the surveillance officers' notes. "Going out drinking? That's certainly an interesting way of handling the news we gave him."

"I guess you could argue he was trying to drown his sorrows."

"It wouldn't be the first time," she answered, thinking of her father. Then she flipped to the next page. "Huh. Buying a round for the house? That certainly doesn't fit with someone who went on about being sensible and frugal yesterday."

"He probably wasn't quite himself," said Castle.

"Four times? That'd be awfully expensive, even for you. And he paid cash. Who walks around with that kind of money on them most of the time? Other than you," she amended.

"He's not used to New York," he answered, but she didn't think his heart was in it. "There aren't a whole lot of ATMs on the Vineyard, especially outside of town. He could be used to carrying his cash with him."

"We probably ought to call his wife back for more questions," said Kate, flipping through more paperwork. "It'd be nice if we could get her into Interview here. Or if we could actually talk to the Vineyard police about his habits instead of just getting his record. Ryan, you think there's any luck getting an extended interview with one of them?"

"If someone asked you to drive five hours each way to discuss a few old, minor charges," asked Castle, "would you do it?"

"Okay, good point." She'd mostly been thinking out loud, anyway. "But we do need to bring him back in to finish the questioning and discuss the body. Who took him to the hotel last night?"

"Espo," answered Ryan.

She looked around and blinked. "Where is he?"

"Good question."

"That's…not like him. All right, get a uniform over there to bring him back down. We can at least finish this up. And see if we can get a phone interview with someone else over at the Vineyard, someone who'd know more about this guy's habits."

"On it."

"You're focusing on him, then," said Castle.

"Right now, it's the best lead we have." She met his eyes levelly. "But we're also going to dig a little deeper into Maizie's life. Something or someone else might pop."

"I know," he said. Was that stiffness in his tone? "Listen, ah, do you need me here for that? I really ought to…" he trailed off. "Try and finish that last chapter."

Kate eyed him. "You do know that I can tell when you've been writing, right? You're usually in a different mood when you're done. It's not the same way you act when you've been doing something you don't want to talk about."

He shrugged.

"Okay, fine. I'll call you later and see how well you did." _Please don't investigate this on your own_, she thought. _I don't want to argue about that._

But his manner was absent as he gave her hair a quick kiss before he left. Kate sighed inwardly. Great. That was just what they needed right now.

* * *

"So this Schandler guy you did a run on this morning," said Esposito as they headed back from the morgue. "He related to this case?"

"No," answered Kate. After the final interview with Joseph Brudegher, they'd taken him over to release the body. He'd collapsed, sobbing, and it had taken both of them, Lanie, and one of the orderlies to calm him down enough to get disposition instructions. After that, they'd sat with him another hour before they were confident he would be all right on his drive back to the Vineyard.

"Another case, then?"

She sighed. "It's personal."

"Personal?" He stopped and swung around to face her, giving them a bit of privacy. "Anything we need to worry about? Little Castle in trouble?"

She blinked. "What makes you think it's about Alexis?"

"You left the results on your screen. He's a Teaching Assistant at Columbia. If it's not related to the case, then it must be related to her."

_Sloppy, Kate_, she chided herself. "She was dating him for a while."

Esposito frowned. "Didn't the results say he was married?"

"She just found that out. But he's an instructor, Espo. He doesn't have any business dating students in his undergrad sections to begin with."

"Worse things have happened at colleges." He bit the inside of his cheek, but his eyes danced with mirth. Still, she appreciated him trying to hold back the chuckle although she wasn't quite sure what was so funny.

"It's Castle's daughter."

"Yeah, and the way you're acting, she might as well be yours, too. It's kind of fun to see, really."

So that was it. "Fun to see? You wouldn't think so if you'd had to be the one to take some of the shine out that girl's eyes last night. And speaking of eyes, what's with the daggers that Lanie was shooting out of hers?"

"That wasn't any fun to see, either," he muttered, dropping his gaze.

"It have anything to do with why you showed up late for shift again this morning? For the second time this week?"

"There won't be a third."

Kate softened. "It's not like I'm going to report it to Gates, Esposito. I'm just worried about you."

"Don't be. There's nothing to worry about." He turned and started walking down the hall toward the bullpen.

"Javi," she called after him. He stopped. "Would you tell me if there was?"

"I would," he answered without turning around. "But like you said, Kate, it's personal."

"All right." She caught back up with him at the steps, just as her phone rang. "Beckett."

It was Castle. "Kate, is Joseph Brudegher still at the precinct?"

"No," she answered. "We just finished releasing the body to him half an hour ago. Why?"

"So he was there, then. Most or all of the morning?"

"Yeah, he was. Why are you asking? Where are you, anyway?"

"My lawyer's."

"Your _lawyer's?_ Castle, what is going on?"

She heard him took a breath before he replied. "You're going to get a call, if you haven't already. There's been another murder."

* * *

_Contrary to appearances, this story is neither abandoned nor dead! I just hit kind of a rough spot for a while. At this point, I don't know if I'll make the 50K word goal or not. But I'm still going to give it my best shot, and I believe I can put a pretty good dent in the goal even if I don't quite make it.  
_

_In the meantime, if you're so inclined, this entire series now has a website of its own: castle dot lfvoy dot net (no www)._


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